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Night Shots

So this is the last of my Barcelona batch. Gotta end it with night shots of Sagrada Famila, the one spot that got me so into Barcelona in the first place. Ever since college, I might add.

So adiós for now, Barcelona. You are still at the top of my list of cities I want to move to. Hopefully someday in the future, when all is well at your part of the world, we’ll bump into each other again.

Casa Milà, aka La Pedrera, is one of the most popular hot spots in Barcelona. Too bad it was closed for the entire, freakin’ week I was there.

Anyway…

Built in 1906 and completed in 1912, this century-old structure was Gaudí’s most controversial one. Not because of any particular drama. People just didn’t like it. Disapproving citizens ridiculed it, calling it “La Pedrera” or “the stone quarry,” in reference to its weird design.

I don’t know what they were complaining about. To me, it looked just like Casa Batlló, except fatter and less colorful. My only complaint was that they wouldn’t let me inside. I was only able to take a picture through the front doors.

I dragged a hapless, sick Pedro late Saturday night to see the Giant Rubber Ducky one last time before it left LA the following morning. It was a tedious drive and we ended up lost in some kind of spooky, industrial shipping area where we, surprisingly enough, ran into a wedding of all places. Had we not been able to find the duck that night, we probably would’ve crashed the wedding as photographers, but thankfully, the patrons were kind enough to point us to the right direction.

So after an hour of being lost and then getting stuck behind a railroad crossing, waiting for the slowest train in the world (so freaking slow, it actually went on a complete stop midway through), we finally found the ducky, still situated by the shore and still lit up.

Then I proceeded to go photo-crazy and kept the sick Pedro there til one in the morning.

Always had this bad habit of staying out too late for night shots. Every time, I either nearly missed the train home, if not miss it altogether.

Luckily, the place where I stayed at (the former meat refrigerator next to the Chicago River) happens to be situated at a great spot. I could just take the elevator down, go outside and take pictures by the river walk. Practically everything was walking distance.

See? Just walking distance from the Buckingham Fountain…

Just kidding. It’s not. These last two photos are just another example of me staying up too late for night shots. They’ve already turned off the lights and the fountain, as you can see. But that didn’t stop me now, did it?

I’ve always said that if ever I get the chance to really pursue whatever field of photography I want to, it would have been photojournalism. That’s choice number one. Choice number two would have been astrophotography. But taking into account the cost of all the equipment, plus the fact that my puny knowledge of astronomy is only limited to popular science and Michio Kaku, the chances of me ever taking up astrophotography is pretty much nil. Hence why it’s choice number two.

Now, the closest thing to astrophotography I have ever done was the lunar eclipse. I don’t even think that’s considered astrophotography. That’s like taking pictures of a daytime soap star from the 1970’s who happened to live next to you, then calling yourself a bonafide paparazzi. The next best thing I can shoot with my meager equipment was the Milky Way Galaxy. And dayuuum, what a sight it was! Something I’ve always dreamed of.

Anyway, these are not exactly perfect shots (far from it, actually), but hey, since this was the first time I had ever shot the galaxy, I will use that excuse. For now, enjoy!